"He that hath a trade hath an estate; and he that hath a calling hath a place of profit and honor" - Benjamin Franklin

Saturday, June 18, 2016

Driver's Side III

Here's a shot between the door opening and the rear wheel. I cut away about 4" of the outer skin and the part of the rocker panel that hides the heater channel and has the mating surface for the lower flange on the outer skin.

And here's the new replacement metal for the inside. I made it in two pieces figuring it would be a lot easier than trying to get everything measured up and fitting on the money. Fits good now and I've got a nice straight surface to weld the flange of the outer skin to later. If you look closely at the right side of the photo, you can see more rust holes on what makes up the inner fender. I think I'll hold off on that part until I get a fender so I can align everything as it should be. The car came with plastic Baja fenders but I won't be using those. I'll get some real steel ones back on it. Actually, I'm planning on frenching in the taillights so I'd like to get an earlier Beetle fender that doesn't have the big ass taillight hole like the Super Beetle has. I'm not sure what fits what, however. I'll get that figured out and get a pair one of these days soon.

Here I'm trial fitting everything prior to welding. Seat fits, all the holes line up on the floor pans, all the paint is ground off where I have to weld - so it's ready to go together as soon as I pick up a tube of silicon caulk. I need to take care of some other business today, so I don't know how much I'll get done, but most of the hard work is done.

If you want to do this kind of stuff, you sure need a lot of tools. Hammers, chisels, punches, grinders, drills, snips, files, layout tools, sheet metal brake, Cleco fasteners, and various other hand tools along with your PPE. I'm pretty much good on the tools now except for a shear. I cut the strips for the bottom of the rocker at work on the "stomp" shear to get nice straight cuts without any distortion. I don't really have room for one of those even if I did find a good deal on one. I would like to have a Beverly shear. A model B-2 would be perfect for my needs - could've used it several times on this job. I might look into getting one before I start on the hot rod project.

Now that the floor is just about done, I think I'll see about working on the dash and cleaning up the area behind the seats. I'm not planning on running a back seat but I am planning on a roll cage. I've got the main hoop ready to go. I can get that tacked in and then see what I need to strengthen the floor where the rear tubes will go. Finally coming together.